The present disclosure relates to a voice interaction apparatus that performs a voice interaction with a user, and its processing method and a program therefor.
A voice interaction apparatus that inserts filler words (i.e., words for filling silences in conversations) to prevent silences in conversations from being unnaturally prolonged has been known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-191030).
However, the present inventors have found the following problem. That is, the aforementioned voice interaction apparatus outputs a formal (i.e., perfunctory) filler word as a word for filling a silence when a waiting time occurs in a conversation. Therefore, there is a possibility that the inserted filler word may not fit well with the content (e.g., meaning) of the conversation and hence make the conversation unnatural.